Internal-combustion engine.



I. A. SECOR.

INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. i915.

Patented June 11, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l..

1. A. SEGOB. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I6 1915. Patented Junell,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- JOHN A. SEGOB, OIF LAJPOBTE, INDINA.

INTEBNAL-COMBUSTION NGINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented June i1, 1918.

Application led April 16, 1915. Serial No. 21,875.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN A. SEGOB, a citizen of the UnitedL States, residing at Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and' useful Improvement in InternaLCombustion i n Engines, of which the following is a specifithat pressure.

cation.

My invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines, and has for its object to provide a new and improved form of combustion engine which will operate on low grade liquid fuels, and which will have those advantages heretofore confined to throttling engines in which combustion occurs at consta'nt volume with an increase of internal pressure. These advantages include moderate weight of power unit and cost of manufacture; high eiiiciency, both mechanical and commercial; flexibility, in-A cluding adaptability for high piston speeds and rotation rates. Added to these advantages, this engine Will have` the thermal veiiciency of the high compression, constant combustion pressure oil engine.

It is well known that, when a charge of air is drawn into the cylinder of a combustion engine, and is then compressed, the pressure may become so reat that the heat of compression will be su cient without any other! ignition means to ignite or fire the. charge of fuel, and the so called Diesel motor is one of the best known motors operating under this principle. In such a motor, special means are provided for injecting the fuel into the combustion chamber, because to prevent pre-ignition the fuel is not injected appreciably until the beginning of, the power stroke. This necessitates means for developing a pressure greater than the compression and combustion ressure of the engine for forcing the oil uel in against The oil fuel is fed into the cylinder at such a rate that the expansion due to the heat of combustion keeps pace with the increase of volumetric capacity due to the movement of the, piston, so that the pressure within the cylinder remains substantially unchanged until the fuel supply is cut off by the governor, following which adiabatic expanslon ensues and is accom-V panied by falling pressureto the completion of the working stroke in the usual manner.

In this arrangement, the fuel is injected and burned gradually being mixed with the air only 'as it burns, and the longer the burning continues the less freely does it take place owing to the natural decrease in the relative proportion of oxygen, that is to say, the oil or fuel which is injected into the chamber burns slowly in the form of a continuous jet of flamebecause it is not intermingled with the'air, as in the usual gas engine practice, and only that air which comes in actual contact with the oil fuel is available for combustion. This results in slowing down the combustion and compelling the motor to operate at low speeds otherwise there is no time for combustion to take place or for the fuel to enter in.

The above must be contrasted with the ordinary combustion motor wherein the air and fuel are mixed and commingled before ignition so that each fuel particle is surrounded by its proper oxygen supply, thus permitting an almost instantaneous combustion of the charge extending throughout the entire combustion chamber, thus insuring the complete ignition under constant volume at the beginning of the stroke and allowing expansion to do the work from then on. This of course permits higher speeds, and is one of the radical differences in perform-p ance between the high compression, slow burning constant pressure motor and the low compression constant volume Vexplosion motor as now in use. propose to combine certain features of the low compression constant volume motor with the thermal advantages of constant high compression at all loads and speeds.

My engine then lis somewhat similar to the Diesel in that constant high compressions are used for a varying output of power, and that high temperatures are developed in the combustion chamber by the compression employed. I propose to compel the air as it is inhaled uncontrolled and unthrottled during the suction stroke, to Vinhale with it the proper fuel supply, thus insuring a mixing and conuningling of the atomized fuel with the air, and rendering `separate fuel injecting), means and fuel valves exposed to the eat and pressure of the com'- pression and explosion pressures unnecessary.` I propose, however, to add to the mixture a supply of water or other suitable 'combustion retarding or cylinder cooling means such as will prevent self-ignition. At the appropriate time Ifwill then fire the In my arrangement I,

charge with. an electric spark in the usual manner.

'lhe admixture ol water with the iluel charge orms a fuel mixture of high specie heat, reducing the tendency7 to selliignition at high loads and permitting higher compression, and it enough water is used the temperature may be held down to any desired point. "lhe amount of water and the amount of luel may he varied. The

quantity el air is always practically uniform, thus the volume of mixture entering is always the same, but it varies in richness, and the power output of the engine is controlled by varying in thermal cordination the relative quantities or luel and water. .el lull unthrottled air charge is thus inhaled at every.Y charging stroke, as in Brayton br lliesel oil engines, or ordinary hit or miss governed gas engines. lt dil- :iers from the Diesel in that iuel and water are atomized by the entering air charge, loeing commingled therewith and inhaled as constituents or a homogeneous fuel charge, thereby obviating the mechanical power loss involved by fuel injection under pressure in excess of the pressure or@ compression and combustion. lt still further differs from the Siemens, Brayton and iesel engines in that combustion occurs at constant volume and not under constant pressure.

The supply ci luel water is positively turned on and oir" pre-determined synchronous relation the movement oil the engine intake valve and is so timed that the fluid is turned on always except during that portion er air intake stroke when the air velocity is at or near a maximum, thus all drooling' and dripping and leaking or seepage oi' the fuel and water from the supply nozzles at inopportuno times is prevented, and only that amount or water or oil permitted to enter which is desired, and then only at the time when conditions are such that a maximum atomizing edect is obtained. A governor is provided which varies the quantity of fuel fed by controlling the eli'ective size of Vthe liquid supply pipe to control the speed and power, and this governor controls only the luel and water, the air supply being always the same, the amount of air entering the cylinder for each stroke being the same, no matter what the speed or power.

My engine, therefore, takes in a constant volume of combusti-ble mixture at each stroke. 'lhe mixture .may be rich or it may be lean; it may have a maximum or it may have a minimum of fuel but it is constant in volume. All the air passes through the Venturi tube and thus the problem of adjusting the lrelation between the engine'and air and liquid is simple because there are no variable intakes, no throttle valves and no 4other interfering elements to enter in and the air annonce velocity through the Venturi tube is in direct relation to the speed of the piston. l:l use a Venturi tube through which the air is drawn. merely for the purpose oi insuring maximum velocities of air and thus a maximum oil at'omization and mixing. 7Under some circumstances it might he desirable to dispense with the Venturi tube and use other arrangement of intakes.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagratically in one form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a detail elevation in part section,

Fig. 2 is a detail part section and part elevation at right angles to ll ig. l.

' llig. 3 is a section along the line 3 3 of ll ig. 2.

Like parts are indicated by the same letter in all the dgures.

l is an internal combustion engine cylinder.

'A1 is a water jacket, A2,the piston, A3, the intake, and rif, the exhaust valve. lhese two valves operate against the valve seats. A5, are seated by springs A, operated by levers AJ. These levers are actuated by any suitable means not here shown. r

B is an intake pipe discharging into the Venturi tube B1 which in turn discharges into the valve cage B2 above the intake valve A3. B3 is an oil supply nozzle, and B4 a water supply nozzle, each discharging into the Venturi tube at the point oit greatest contraction at right angles to the path oir air. B5 B are valve Stems seated each upon one or" the open nozzles B3 Bft by the springs B7. The washers B8 are adjustably mounted on the upper ends of the stems B5 l in the path or' one end oil the rock lever B9. The rock lever B9 is pivoted on the bracket B10 and carries at its end the cross rod B11. rlhis cross rod extends at right angles to therock arm, into the path of the washer B12 on the upper end of the intake valve stem, so that the downward movement of the intake valve will nally result in an upward movement of the water and oil valve stems.

C C1 are oil and water reservoirs. 'lhe communicate by means of passages C2 3 with the nozzles Ba B4. Each of these passages is controlled by a needle valve C4 operiisy naeaeev v rod. The water valve is connected to and controlled by the governor rod throu h the stub stem D2 pivoted on the lever 8, the pivotal point being adjustable along the lever, the other end of the rod being provided with a collar D3 free to slide along the governor 'rod and held against the collar D4 by a spring D5, so that the governor rod Will be free to move forwardly to operate the fuel valve after the water valve has seated.

llhe use and operation of my invention are as follows 'lhe piston in the drawings is shown 'at the beginning of the suction stroke. rlhe intake valve is about to be opened. As it opens and as the pistondescends a blast of air will bedrawn in through the intake passage into the cylinder. The velocity of this lair will increase rapidly from zero to a maximum and this maximum will prevail during what l prefer to call the mid stroke. As the intake valve stem descends the plate carried near the top of vupper end thereof A*will strike the rod mounted in the fuel control lever, will rock the lever and cause the lever to lift up on the fuel and water control valve stems. This will open the fuel and water nozzles and the fuel and water will be atomized by the rapid passage of the 'current of air across the edges of the nozzles and will be drawn as part of the charge into the cylinder. With the parts as shown the intake valve opens partially before the movement of the fuel valve lever so that the liquid valves are neit-her of them open until the velocity of the air current is high, thus insuring complete atomization since no liquid is fed until the velocity of air is sufe iicient to insure satisfactory atomization. lt will be noted that the rocking lever strikes the washers held on the ends of the two liquid valve stems and since these washers may be adjusted in position the time when the valve stems themselves are moved may be controlled. As the piston approaches the lower end of this suction stroke the intake valve will commence to close in the `usual manner but before it seats and thus before :l The oil and Water is, of course, contained in reservoirs as shown and fed to the atomizing nozzles in the Venturi tube in the usual manner being controlled by the two needle valves. 'lhese needle valves are carried upon screw-threaded valve stems each stem being controlled by a. lever. 'These levers are adjustable in angular position with respect to the valve stems and are actuated or controlled by the governor rod as indicated.

-The governor rod is connected to the fuel control lever and is connected by a sliding arm and spring to the water control lever so that the valves may beso adjusted that as the stem moves forward to close olf the liquid it will first shut off the Water completely and then subsequently shut ofl' the fuel, the spring interposed between the gov- ,er-nor stem and the water control lever being yprovided to permit movement of the governor rod and the fuel valve lever after the seating of the water valve arrests the movement of the Water valve lever. Uf course, thegovernor rod might be actuated by any suitable vmeans such as a governor in response to the load on the engine, a hand lever orany other suitable mechanism.

The exhaust valveof the engine is operated in the usual manner by the valve lever which l have shown diagrammatically and it will be understood that the driving connection from the piston 'to the crank and shaft and the timing gears and the valve vmechanism are all operated in the usual manner. rlhe adjustment of the parts, is, of course, obvious. rlhe two liquid valve levers may be moved angularly with respect to the valves and the length of the lever arm may be varied to change the relative responses of the tWo valves with respect to the governor rod. rl`he interval during which the supply of fuel and water is permitted li call the V mid stroke and the cutting in and cutting out of'these valves is eected near the ends of the stroke, but only during such mid stroke.

'lhe result of so operating is, that there will be a very thorough and positive atomization and mixing of fuel and water with the air due to the high velocity and large volume of the'air current flowing into the cylinder.. rlhis thorough atomization of the fuel permits the use in the cylinder of high compression without self-ignition, so that the cylinder may, for example, in connection with. the use of low. gradeliquid fuels, have. compression of say 100 pounds, although this figure is used merely for the matter of' illustration. By in like manner thoroughly atomizing the water, which, by cooling the interior of the cylinder, has a retarding effectof ignition, it is possible to still further increase the compression in the cyliniio j der to say,` for example, 200 pounds without` self-ignition. @f course, both of these results could be more or less secured by lead- 'llhe compression in the cylinder can be inlll creased in proportion to the thoroughness of the atomization of the liquid fuel, and again in proportion to the thoroughness of the atomization of the Water, and loy my arrangement the atomization of both can he carried to a point where the compression in the cylinder can he as high as is consistent with economic structure arrangements. rlhus the preferred process involves the taking of the entire air supply through the passagevvay into which the fuel and Water are "discharged, and the discharge of fuel and Water during only the mid-stroke.

. The term high compression is, of course, relative, and moreover in designing an engine, many of the important features of my invention could he conserved `Without having a positively high compression.. ln such case, however, there would always be a constant compression pressure. lf, therefore, in any given case, a designer Wishes to use my invention, and dispense with the advantages incident to so-called high compression pressure, he may still secure the benefit of a constant compression pressure, hecause he `will have a uniform and uncontrolled supply of air. By having this uncontrolled air supply and feeding the fuel or Water, or both, in the manner proposed, he Will get a constant compression pressure even at lovv pressures, .and thus a high thermodynamic etliciency at lovv loads.

The arrangement can he such that either or both fuel and lWater can he thus introduced into a constant compression pressure cylinder when such pressure is either high or low, lout preferably when it is high.

ln order to malre the foregoing description and the following claims clearly intelligiloie as to meaning and scope, it seemed hestto explain the signicance which ll attach to 'certain words and expressions.

Where l have spoken of constant cornpression, constant volume, gconstant quantity and uniform quantitiesl and 'the like, l mean, of course, to use these terms as if they were preceded hy the vvord 66approximately. When l speak of uniform quantities l mean to distinguish hetiveen the approximately uniform-quantities as they are for example utilized in my invention Where there is no throttling of the air, and the sharply varying successive quantitiesv of air taken in to a cylinder where the operation involves the use of air throttling.

, 1When l use the expression constant com! pression, l mean thereby to indicate ap-l' proximately a condition such as that which prevails in the Diesel engine. l Y

By the use of the 'term compression stroke, ll means the strolre of the piston durrenacer ing which the charge is compressed in the cylinder.

By the expression self ignition97 l means, of course, such ignition as takes place, for example, in the Diesel engine, or in any engine wherein ignition comes from the heat of compression.

By'the term ignition not so modied or limited l mean, of course, ignition loy separate means or means other than heat of compression.

By the expression Water l, of course, mean Water in any of its various forms.

By the expression self ignition preventive l mean any substance which applied or mixed with the; charge vvill tend to delay or prevent self-ignition.

l claim: l

l. A, combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit vvith a Venturi tube portion to establish a high velocity air zone,

engine controlled means for cutting the airl current on and od, governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of oil and Water Within such high velocity air zone and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of oil and Water after the air current has .started and for cutting od the supply of oil and vvater loefore the air current has ceased.

2. l comhusticnmotor containing a cylinder, 'an air conduit with means to estalolish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and ott, governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of oil and Water `within such high velocity air zone and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of oil and Water after the air current has started and for cutting ont the supply of oil and Water loefore the air current has ceased.

3. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit, engine controlled means for cuttin the air current on and of?, governor control ed means for delivering a varying supply of oil and vvater to such air current and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of oil and vvater after the air current has started and for -cutting od the supply of oil and vvater hefore the air current has ceased.

t. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and 'on'a means for delivering a varying supply of oil and Water to such air current and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of oil ,and Water after the air current has started and for cutting od the supply of oil and vvater hefore the air current has ceased.'

5. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit with a 'Venturi tube to establish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current lll@ lll@

insane? on and od', governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of fuel and a self-ignition means for cutting in such supply after the air current has started and for cutting olf the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive before the air current has ceased.

6. A combustion motor containing acylinder, an air conduit with a constriction to establish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and off, governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of fuel and a self-ignition preventive to the current and means for cutting insuch suipply after the air current has startedl and or cutting od' the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive before the air current has ceased.

A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit with means to establish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and 0H, governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of fuel and a selfignition preventive to the current and means for cutting in such supply, after the air current has started and for cutting off the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive before the air current has ceased. c v

8. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and ofi", governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of fuel and a selfignition preventive to such air current and engine controlled means forfcutting in the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive after the air current has started and for cutting ed the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive before the air current has ceased.

9. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and of, means forl delivering a varying supply of fuel and a self-ignition preventive to such air current and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive after the air current has started and for cutting ofi the supply of fuel and self-ignition preventive before the air current has ceased.

10. A combustion motor containinga cylinder, an air conduit with a Venturi tube portion to establish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and of, governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of fuel within such high velocity air zone and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of fuel after the vair current has started and for cutting off the supply of vfuel before the air current has ceased.

11. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit with means to estabpreventive to the current andf lish a high velocity air zone, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and oil", governor controlled means for deliverinof a varying supply of fuel Within such high velocity air-zone and engine controlled means for cuttin 'in the supply of fuel after the air current as started and for cutting olf the supply of fuel before the vair current has ceased.

12,l A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit, engine controlled means for cuttin the air current on and oil", governor control ed means for delivering a varying supply of fuel tosuch air current and engine controlled means for cutting in the supply of fuel after the air current has started and for cutting off the supply of fuel before theI air current has ceased.

13. A combustion motor containing a cylinder, an .air conduit, engine controlled means for cutting the air current on and ofi, means for delivering a varying supply of fue] to such air current and engine controlled means for cuttin in the supply of fuelafter the air currentlias started and for cutting 0H the supply of fuel before the aii` current has ceased.

e combination with a constant compression .eom'bustion motor of means for supplying a 4combustible mixture of air, fuel and water thereto during the inhalation stroke and means for automatically varying the relative and total quantities of fuel and Water responsive to variations in the load.

l5. 'lhe combination with a constant compression combustion motor of mwiis for sii-pplying a combustible mixture of air, fuel and water thereto during the inhalation stroke, means for cutting on the fuel and. :Water supply before the completion of the inhalation stroke and means for automatically varying the relative and total quantities of fuel and Water responsive to variations in the load.

16. The combination with a constant com-Y pression comfbustion motor of means for supplying a combustible mixture of air, fuel and water thereto during the inhalation stroke, means for limiting the cyclic duration of the fuel and water admission period so as to synchronize approximately with period of high velocity of the inrushing air blast during the inhalation stroke, and means for regulating -the engine speed by varying in due correlation the respective quantities tof fuel and Water contained in the fuel mixures.

17.. The combination with a constant compression combustion motor containing a cylinder, an air conduit with a Venturi tube portion to establish a high velocity air zone, of governor controlled means for delivering a varying supply of oil and Water Within such high velocity air zone. during the in-v halation smo i8, A constant compression combustion motor containing a cylinder', an air conduit with means to establish e high velocity air zone engine controlled ineens `for cutting the eir current on and ed, governor controlled ineens for delivering a varying supply of liquid luel end Water Within such high velocitg7 air zone i9. A coinhustion motor containing a cylinder9 an eir conduit, engine controlled ineens `lor cutting the air current on and off, governor controlled ineens for delivering e supply not verying oiE oil and Water to such eir current end engine controlled ineens tor cutting in the supply of oil end Water utter the eir current has started and for cutting on? the supply7 of oil end Water before the air current has ceased.

20.. A combustion motor containing a cylinder9 an air conduit with means to esn teblish a high -velocity eir zone thereini engine controlled ineens :for cutting the air current on and on", 'means tor delivering a not varying supply of fuel vvitlfiin such high velocity air none, .and engine controlled ineens tor cutting in the supply oit -liiel eiter the ein current has sterted'fend for cutting v rgeeeocor od the supply of fuel after the eir current has ceased.

2le A constant compression combustion inotor conteining a cylinder, en air conduit with ineens to establish e high velocityv air zone therein, a liquid fuel valve end a Water valve each having outlet nozzles Within the zone of maximum eir velocity, engine conn trolled ineens for cutting a constant air supply on end ed, engine controlled ineens for cutting in the supply or iluel end Water after the air current hes started and for cutting od the supply of fuel end Water before the air current has ceesed9 with ineens for autoiiieticallyv varying the relative proportions of fuel and vveter in thermodynamic correletion with the power output and heet devel opment so es to provide leaner tuel mixtures as the power demand decreases and richer mixtures es the power demand increeses 'in testimony whereof9 l ex my signature in the presence oit tvvo Witnesses this 13th dey oit April9 i915,

@EN A., SECR itnesses:

Mineure NL Linoleum-o9 @underrun 

